What did you think of the new system?

[Dr Fidget]

I don't know how well it would work. Because the matches are infrequent and there are so many new players coming in all the time there are problems that could result from this. How would they do it? If they made top seeds play unranked or poor players you could make some people fairly angry.

Easy, flights. They used them for the first round at nats in 09. Then they had 4 flights each running swiss, and the top 4 people in each flight competed in top cut the next day.

Using player data for flights would work fantastically. Put the highest ranked player in one flight, second highest in the next and so on. That way the best players can’t all take each other out in the first rounds, and unranked players won’t luck into as many consecutive easy, or hard matchups.

 

[TheCalmSnivy]

Using player data for flights would work fantastically. Put the highest ranked player in one flight, second highest in the next and so on. That way the best players can’t all take each other out in the first rounds, and unranked players won’t luck into as many consecutive easy, or hard matchups.

That's a really cool idea!
I think everything I was going to say has been explained pretty well, but I would've liked it if they had a site like last year with the finals videos and names of winners on there.
Attendance was way down, so I guess that's a way to justify the lack of a website.
All in all though, I thought it was still a good event.

 

[Cyrus]

There's no excuse for TCG not to be finished on Saturday, considering rounds are only a half-hour long. Magic:the Gathering events are generally much larger and, aside saving Top 8 cut for Sunday morning, they have no trouble finishing the Swiss portion of tournaments with 50-minute rounds. VGC would ideally be on Saturday too, especially if the events are going to be held in the middle of school and not on a holiday, but that's probably not feasible while both TCG and VGC are being run as a single event.

Re round length: Rounds are not a half hour long. The official time limit is actually "30 minutes + 3," with the "3" being extra turns. Those turns can take a very long time since there's less pressure to finish your plays in a timely, orderly manner, and so that can result in up to ten minutes of extra play. Add in the fact that you can still have sudden death after that, and you have a scenario of each round going to 45 minutes of pure play. Since these were Regional tournaments with over 200 people at them, you can see why the odds of this happening were high.

Re TCG being on two days: While I don't know how other locations did it, our Regional held only the top cut on Sunday, which freed up the staff to focus on the VGC. There was no better example of how late a one-day Regional can get than the event I won back in 2010, where I was competing until 3:30 AM.

Despite that, I'm actually a big fan of one day TCG Regionals, since organized play wouldn't essentially "force" people to pay for an extra day of hotel. But due to how much TCG players love two day events, this is as good of a compromise as we're going to get.

RE holding the TCG and VGC simultaneously: At some venues, it's simply impractical to hold the two at different times; however, I for one would be greatly disappointed if I couldn't play in both. I am far more involved with the TCG than I ever will be with the video games, but I can say from firsthand experience how awesome it is to play in one after the another!

 

[Expert Evan]

I seem to be in the minority that I think the new system is great, and for good reason too. This has come a long way since the VGC 2009 fiasco in Philadelphia, as I especially like the new swiss method, hack checking after round 1 and the comraderie of others here as well. I'll further detail my props and slops when I post a story probably some time this week.

 

[Mr.E]

Re round length: Rounds are not a half hour long. The official time limit is actually "30 minutes + 3," with the "3" being extra turns. Those turns can take a very long time since there's less pressure to finish your plays in a timely, orderly manner, and so that can result in up to ten minutes of extra play. Add in the fact that you can still have sudden death after that, and you have a scenario of each round going to 45 minutes of pure play. Since these were Regional tournaments with over 200 people at them, you can see why the odds of this happening were high.

Magic rounds are 50 minutes + 5 turns, so.... ;o And the big events can run an extra Swiss round or two because they can attract, well, way more than 200 people that's for sure. Of course, there's a much larger and established judge system in place for Magic than PTCG but it's entirely possible to get this shit done in a day (besides a top cut) if the system is in place and everyone is on the ball.

 

[theamericandream38]

Magic rounds are 50 minutes + 5 turns, so.... ;o And the big events can run an extra Swiss round or two because they can attract, well, way more than 200 people that's for sure. Of course, there's a much larger and established judge system in place for Magic than PTCG but it's entirely possible to get this shit done in a day (besides a top cut) if the system is in place and everyone is on the ball.

Yeah this, 7-8 swiss round PTQs (cut to top 8, 3 untimed rounds of single elimination best 2/3) generally finish around 7-8 PM assuming they start on schedule (10 AM). It is 100% possible to complete these Pokemon tournaments in a single day, though it may take more staff than they currently have.

 

[Cyrus]

Oh, I acknowledge much of that Mr. E, and would love it to be that way. However, here are all of the reasons why this is - at least during present time - a nearly unfeasible hope and prayer:

*Unlike Magic, Pokemon TCG is a game that heavily emphasizes its younger players, who simply can't handle the long days. Us mature players who have gone through high school, college, and/or professional/grad school know a thing or two about long nights, but the little guys can't (granted, they let out earlier due to lower numbers, but this still factors into the "one size fits all" equation P!P operates on).

*Comparing Pokemon staff and MtG staff is apples/oranges. Don't get me wrong: both are groups of highly dedicated, motivated individuals who have a great appreciation for their respective games. Nevertheless, most Pokemon staff are, by definition, volunteers, and people who volunteer generally have less incentive to be as efficient and effective as possible. From my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong), Magic staff are all employees, and so they have a much more immediate incentive to do their best, and move up the "ranks" of pay. Meanwhile, the only really juicy monetary incentives for Pokemon judges are free trips, and those are reserved for only a very elite few.

I can't stress enough how dedicated some of the volunteers I know are - I've recently seen a PTO drive five hours just so her players could have a chance to play in a regional tournament. However, all else being equal (including love for the game/other people), the individual who is directly compensated should perform better. So until you see more paid staff, I expect hyper, magic-esque efficiency to be out of the question.

*The culture has moved into this direction. Up until 2010, people tolerated it; however, New England paved the way by introducing the first official two day Regional, and by this season, P!P followed suit. So even the Masters began lining up in support of the two day regional.

...And this is all recent. If you want the pendulum to swing the other way, then it's going to take a lot of time, effort, and lobbying.